Peanut Butter May Help Diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease

There is now an inexpensive and fairly easy way to help identify individuals who might be suffering from Alzheimer's disease!

Health researchers from the University of Florida have found an ingenious way to confirm the diagnosis of early stage of Alzheimer's disease. In a study published in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences, Jennifer Stamps and Dr. Kenneth Heilman found out that an individual's performance in a smell test might be indicative of cognitive decline.

The study made use of 24 patients who had mild cognitive impairment, 14 grams of peanut butter in a container and a metric ruler. Each patient was asked to sit down with a clinician while keeping his or her eyes closed.

Patients were then asked to close their mouths and block one nostril. The physician held up the 14 grams of peanut butter under the open nostril and asked patients to breath normally. The container of peanut butter was then gradually moved up one centimeter at a time while the patient exhaled.

The distance with which patients can detect odor ws then recorded. The same process was repeated on the other nostril after 90 seconds.

According to the researchers, results indicate that those individuals suffering from early stages of Alzheimer's disease exhibited certain patterns in odor detection. Specifically, the left nostril of these patients seemed to be impaired. The left nostril could not detect odor until the distance was 10 centimeters closer to the nose compared to the right nostril.

10 out of the 24 patients who had mild cognitive impairment exhibited impairment on their left nostril.

An individual's sense of smell is usually the first to be affected in individuals with cognitive impairment. The first cranial nerve, which is associated with the ability to smell, is the first to be afflicted.

Although promising, researchers admit that the study is still in its infancy. More studies should be conducted to further understand the implications of the results.

"At the moment, we can use this test to confirm diagnosis," Stamps said. "But we plan to study patients with mild cognitive impairment to see if this test might be used to predict which patients are going to get Alzheimer's disease."